Gun politics Essay Example for Free

Gun politics Essay This family was a victim of a problem they could have avoided-a problem that, according to Florida park rangers, hundreds of visitors suffer each year. Several times a month, ranger Rod Torres of OLeno State Park said, people get scared and leave the park in the middle of the night. Those people picked the wrong kind of park to visit. Not that there was anything wrong with the park: The hikers camped next to them loved the wild isolation of it. But it just wasnt the kind of place the couple from New Jersey had in mind when they decided to camp out on this trip through Florida. Here is an example of a student model answer of an Expository Essay from The Write Source:Did you know that 7 out of 10 students have cheated at least once in the past year? Did you know that 50 percent of those students have cheated more than twice? These shocking statistics are from a survey of 9,000 U.S. high school students.Incredibly, teachers may even be encouraging their students to cheat! Last year at a school in Detroit, teachers allegedly provided their students with answers to statewide standard tests.Here is an another example of an expository essay. This example comes from Essay Start:Throughout history and through a cross-section of cultures, women have transformed their appearance to conform to a beauty ideal. Ancient Chinese aristocrats bound their feet as a show of femininity; American and European women in the 1800s cinched in their waists so tightly, some suffered internal damage; in some African cultures women continue to wear plates in their lower lips, continually stretching the skin to receive plates of larger size. The North American ideal of beauty has continually focussed on womens bodies: the tiny waist of the Victorian period, the boyish figure in vogue during the flapper era, and the voluptuous curves that were the measure of beauty between the 1930s and 1950s. Current standards emphasize a toned, slender look, one that exudes fitness, youth, and health. According to psychologist Eva Szekely, Having to be attractive at this time . . . means unequivocally having to be thin. In North America today, thinness is a precondition for being perceived by others and oneself as healthy (19). However, this relentless pursuit of thinness is not just an example of women trying to look their best, it is also a struggle for control, acceptance and success. Finally, here are excerpts from argumentative essays: Gun control has been a controversial issue for years. A vast majority of citizens believe that if gun control is strictly enforced it would quickly reduce the threat of crime. Many innocent people feel they have the right to bear arms for protection, or even for the pleasure of hunting. These people are penalized for protecting their lives, or even for enjoying a common, innocent sport. To enforce gun control throughout the nation means violating a persons Constitutional rights. Although some people feel that the issue of gun control will limit crime, the issue should not exist due to the fact that guns are necessary for self defense against crime, and by enforcing gun control is violating a citizen’s second amendment right to bear arms. Another examples of an argumentative essay comes from Bogazici University:Throw out the bottles and boxes of drugs in your house. A new theory suggests that medicine could be bad for your health, which should at leastcome as good news to people who cannot afford to buy expensive medicine. However, it is a blow to the medicine industry, and an evenbigger blow to our confidence in the progress of science. This new theory argues that healing is at our fingertips: we can be healthy by doing Reikion on a regular basis. On Essay By Example, on the other hand, the sample argumentative essay addresses online games and socialization: Online games arent just a diversion, but a unique way to meet other people. As millions of gamers demonstrate, playing online is about friendship and cooperation, not just killing monsters. These games are a viable social network because players focus on teamwork, form groups with like-minded people and have romantic relationships with other players. Massively-Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) feature millions of players interacting in the same environment. The games are social in nature as they allow players to band together and complete missions based on a story line, or test their skills by fighting against each other. At the start of the game, the user creates a fictional character, and customizes its physical appearance. Since many games involve combat, players also outfit their characters with armor and weapons, as well as choose their profession. Many popular game titles like World of Warcraft and Everquest follow a fantasy theme, so most professions have magical abilities like healing other players or raising undead minions. While the process seems simple, players may spend hours agonizing over the perfect look for their character, from their armor color to the type of  skills to use in battle. Once their character is created, the player is free to explore the vast, digital world and interact with other players; however they must pay on average $15 a month for game content. MMOG users are mostly male usually between the ages of 18-34 although titles like World of Warcraft have a healthy population of female players as well. With millions of players, there are plenty of people to adventure with. The key to learning to write a good essay is to read and study other essays and then practice, practice, rewrite and practice some more

Documentary practice

Documentary practice Documentary practice is the method of creating documentary information to explain or help others observe historical or current events. In the middle of the 1950s industrial developments made film and then video more convenient and inexpensive therefore allowing more people to be involved in the practice of documenting. An example of this would be an ordinary citizen being able to capture the political world as changing events occurred with his camcorder, transforming him from a witness to an amateur documentary filmmaker. For example, the infamous 1991 video of Rodney King being subjected to excessive police restraint is an early example of the continuing power of the ordinary citizens ability to have a real impact on documentary practice.[1] Documentary practice is therefore deemed to be a reference to what we create with media technology, substance, type, and manufacture strategies in conjunction to deliver the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentary films or photographs or other comparable presentations based on fact or reality. Today we have a vast expanse of new media technology available to us to continually restructure documentary practices in considerable way. Recording technologies implanted within portable devices, for example hand-held digital video cameras, video-equipped mobile phones and still cameras, have made it achievable for large numbers of us to connect within citizens journalism and the documentary practice. By allowing other people to trace and share their experiences, all the up-and-coming media technologies produced are transforming the ways in which people document facts and also how they contribute to the actual events that they are documenting. Daily life can become a performance as these people respond to events and encounter new experiences through documentary practices, creating reports of those events, which they can then go and share with others all over the globe via the Internet. For a lot of people, digital media becomes a form of documentary practice when they are created for and then shared via social-networking sites like Twitter, Flickr and Facebook. A recent example of documentary photography being available to all is the footage of a US Airways plane Flight 154, with 155 people on board landing in the Hudson River. It was brought to the worlds attention even before the mainstream media delivered the information, immediately posted online for everyone to see. An image is a document of something that happens for a split second in that moment of exposure. From this point of view no photograph is less of a form of documentation than any other. However one could disagree with the view that photography is of that moment and therefore faithful and an unmediated show of the physical world which we live in. This could have been true if not for the digital camera. We now all take for granted the process for turning what we see into an image and how easy they are to alter or manipulate. Photographs still remain the only form of evidence, which is still accepted in the courtroom but how can this be when we have examples of edited photos like this of the Model Evolution With Makeup And Photoshop. What used to be a global trust in the truth of images has now been lost. During the 1980s, the children of the postmodern documenting movement, Sontag, Berger, and company, transformed this skepticism of the truth of photography, especially that of documentary, into outright antipathy. Certainly, for the postmodern, distrust of the photograph took an ethical stance, although this was seen as closer to pathological. In the belief of these critics, the photograph was merely a tool of late capitalism, exploiting its subject matter and duping its viewer. Consequently, Abigail Solomon-Godeau charged that the documentary photo-or what she splendidly referred to it as the regime of the image- commits a double act of subjugation[2] in which the unlucky subject is persecuted firstly by the social forces, the act that they have been done wrong by, to put them in the position of having their picture taking in the first place, then by the photographer and viewer. There are not only the masculine and feminine gazes, black and white gazes, gay and straight gazes, but also the political, artistic, the negative and positive gazes. Therefore can society as a whole have a gaze? Considering he individuality of the arrangement and attitude of the onlooker, is it vital to understanding the labor of visual sociologists? This is all discussed in the well-appointed essay on documentary photography by Abigail Solomon Godeau, Who is Speaking Thus? from the book Photography at the Dock. Abigail Solomon-Godeau talks about Jacob Riis in her essay, asserting that in Jacobs images he does not exploit his subject with the return of a glance. She argues that by not identifying his subject he has refused a personal attachment, yet leaving his spectator within a social unrest. However this is still remains an exploitation within status, as a pictorial spectacle usually targeted for a different audience and a different class, giving the collections of images the name How The Other Half Live. His photographs became a larger enterprise of power of surveillance, containment and social control due to threats posed to the American by the large numbers of poor, unassimilated immigrants, aiming to leave the rich in a specter of social control. John Tagg went further by stating that documentary photography is ultimately a function of the state, deeply implicated in the ruling classs apparatus of ideological control and its reproduction of submissive labour power. It was not art phot ographers who incited the anger or fashion photography but instead socially deliberate photojournalists, with their confidence in conventional fictions as growth and truth. Martha Rosler, quoted, Documentary is a little like horror movies, putting a face on fear and transforming threat into fantasy. Martha Rosler is confirming the understanding that photojournalists, although believing that their acts of photography are for the aid of understanding and recording are victimizing their subject and taking control of their misfortune. By photographing images such as migrant agricultural workers family, 1936, by Dorothy Lange staging the image to come across a certain way. Lange took these images for a project called Farm security administration, which was a large scale, federally funded propaganda machine initially conceived to foster support for New Deal relief programs. The subjects were told to stage a somber pose, they were not allowed to wear their best clothes but forced to put on their everyday rags and not to wash their faces or hands for the photo. Those photographers like Walker Evans, who did not abide to these rules and had their aesthetic agendas did not fare well at the F.S.A. This image by Dorothy Lange is a perfect example of Abigails essay on who is speaking thus? It is an image of a women who looks hard done by, struggling, her face looks lost but yet is looking out in what we presume to be farmland as if there is hope out there for her. She has selected with an unerring eye. You do not find in her portrait gallery the bindle-stiffs, the drifters, the tramps, the unfortunate, and the aimless dregs of society. In an essay written almost 30 years after the event, entitled The Assignment Ill Never Forget, Dorothy then gave us her story of how she made the photograph. I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it.'[3] We later find out that all of this is untrue because the photographer has edited this image; a hand was removed for the corner of the picture making you then believe it was tampered with and set up. In other words, the appeal was created by altering the situation to make sure the viewer was premised on the assertions that the victims of the depression were to be judged as the deserving poor, and thus claim redress hinged on individual misfortune rather than on systematic failure in the political, economic and social spheres.'[4] In collective with our own government agencies that embrace photographic substance, the F.S.A. gave out prints for reproduction in the every day press. In the New Deal relief program project photographers were handed set shooting scripts from which they had to work from, they didnt have possession of their negatives and also had no power over how the pictures would be set, captioned and resized so cut out certain parts of the images the F.S.A didnt agree with . The photographers position was comparable to that of photojournalists working for the commercial press. Soloman-Godeau is troubled with the opinionated implications of that to which the image testifies. In relation to the supposed fairness between the photographer and her subject it is importance noting that the migrant mother herself, Florence Thompson, was searched to her trailer home in Modesto, in California. One of the 20th centurys most recognizable and revealing images was reviewed as an ordinary woman, who was poor in a routine way and now no longer possible to live life as a symbol of dignity and sorrow in the facade of poverty. Florence Thompsons image has been viewed in many different forms and in many places, and has also been copied millions of times all over the world. She was one of the most familiar figures of 1930s America during the New Deal Relief, but not until about 50 years subsequent to the event did she get to comment on it in public. She told united press that she was proud to be the subject of the photograph, but that she had never made a penny out of it and t hat it had done her no good.[5] Realism is an issue for not only literature: it is a major political, philosophical and practical issue and must be handled and explained as such[6] Although many of these photographs have exploited their subjects there have been cases where the subject although exploited have then seek fame from there documented situation. An example of this is the mug shots of Hugh Grant and Divine Brown. Although humiliating for Hugh Grant is gave him a lot of new opportunities, but it also opened a whole knew world for Divine Brown, who became famous, almost a celebrity. The mug shot does not exploit but it also does portray a story, it only documents facts and references as evidence for the police to document crime. It is not there to make the viewer understand a story or feel sympathy. There is no one trying to speak though the image, not even the photograph. However their glance into the camera can show and convey and feeling such as Hugh Grants unease. To think otherwise was to participate in fraud: The wholeness, coherence, identity, which we attribute to the depicted scene is a projection, a refusal of an impoverished reality in favor of an imaginary plenitude,[7]. In the outlook of the critics, it was unachievable to ever envisage the new world, for the gaze of the photographer and his audience was programmed by ideological forces beyond our own power; we are all simply caught in capitalisms web, which non of us can sadly escape. As John Berger would mention, unlike there late master, some of Barthes structuralism followers love the closed systems. Yet certainly, Victor Burgin condemned the actual activity of looking as an odd stance, for a photography critic: Our conviction that we are free to choose what we make of a photograph hides the complicity to which we are recruited in the very act of look.[8] He insisted these critics regard the photographs as a confinement and the ability of vision as a crime. There is a perception of photographs as containing reality, a service that disappears over time, so that its primary intricacy gives way to the iconic. The community does not need reminding of the strength of images. A power that also includes their capability to go beyond the unique impulse of their construction like that of the disconcerting image telling of the Migrant Mother, told and retold which inevitable offers, with severe poignancy, an common display of discourse as a depository of understanding and meaning. The photograph has as much as its destroyed history portrays a story of, a woman, her children, a photographer, a government bureau, a popular magazine and a changing public. All of which contribute to an image to give it meaning and a form a depth. Inevitably it is an image and tail composed, revised and re-issued in various venues until whatever reality its subjects first possessed is drained away. [9] Bibliography http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBewhoQu34feature=player_embedded# Observations: Essays on Documentary Photography By David Featherstone Many Voices: Documentary Photography By Virginia Allyn The Genius of Photography By Gerry Badger Photography at the Dock: Essays on Photographic History, Institutions and Practices By Abigail Solomon-Godeau (1960). Language As Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: University of California Press. Film theory: critical concepts in media and cultural studies By Philip Simpson, Andrew Utterson, Karen J. Shepherdson The Photography Reader- By Liz Wells A Life Beyond Limit By Linda Gordon http://www.authorsden.com/categories/article_top.asp?catid=17id=28801 http://bostonreview.net/BR31.5/linfield.php http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/migrantmother.htm Dorothy Lange Solomon-Godeau, Who is speaking thus? page. 179 Dorothy Lange- A Life Beyond Limit By Linda Gordon Illustrated Bertolt Brecht Film theory: critical concepts in media and cultural studies, Page 52 http://www.weskline.org/Classes/burgin_looking_at_photographs.pdf The photography readerBy Liz Wells, Victor Burgin, page 134 Rabinowitz 1994

Procedural Fairness in Unfair Dismissal

Procedural Fairness in Unfair Dismissal Repeal of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004: A report - In October 2004 the government introduced a statutory minimum disciplinary and grievance procedure dealing with disputes in the workplace. These procedures and related rules are set out in the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 and state that employers must follow a minimum dismissal and disciplinary procedure in the workplace or otherwise dismissal will be automatically unfair. When bringing a claim at the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal, employees are also entitled to additional compensation if these disciplinary and dismissal procedures are not adhered to. Although the aim of the Regulations was to encourage informal resolution of disputes, many employers felt that they were too complicated and did not achieve the desired aim. Gibbons (2007 pg.24)[1] sums up this view, ‘The procedures are seen as a prelude to employment tribunals, rather than a way of resolving problems in the workplace’ The Employment Bill 2007 therefore recommends a repeal of the Regulations for what is hoped will be a more straightforward regime likely to come into force in April 2009. The Regulations A standard dismissal procedure as per the Regulations involves the following three steps. The first is a letter which must be sent to the employee setting out the reason for dismissal and inviting them to a meeting at a convenient time and place. The employee must be given time in which to consider the letter and then has a duty having done so to take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting. The second step involves the actual meeting which has to be conducted in a manner which enables both employer and the employee to explain their case. After the meeting the employee must be notified of the decision and provided a right of appeal. The third step would be the appeal process and if the employee wishes to appeal, they must inform the employer who will then invite them to an appeal meeting. The onus is on the employee to take all reasonable steps to attend this appeal meeting and as far as is practicable a more senior manager from the organisation should attend the appeal meeting. The appeal meeting must be conducted in the manner in which enables both the employer and the employee to explain their case. After the meeting the employee must be notified of the final decision. During every meeting in the process, the employee has a right to be accompanied by a work colleague or a trade union official. This companion may address the hearing, confer with the employee during the hearing and may also sum up the employees case but must not answer questions on behalf of the employee. In the case of a grievance against an employer the same steps must be followed with the letter sent from employee to employer stating the nature of the grievance and asking for a meeting to be held. Where the employee has already left employment the Regulations provide for a modified procedure that does not require the Step 2 meeting. The problems created by the Regulations When the Regulations came into force on the 1st October 2004 the government resolved to revisit them after two years. The Department of Trade and Industry confirmed this in its Success at Work Report (2007 pg. 8)[2] ‘This is a key part of DTI’s work to simplify regulation, by removing compliance costs and complexity, and addressing irritants for business and others affected by employment law, while ensuring that employee rights are protected.’ The government then commissioned an independent report on the 12th December 2006 written by Michael Gibbons who was asked to assess all employment dispute resolution procedures including suggestions for adapting the Regulations if he found them not to be fit for purpose. He interviewed over 60 employers, employees and intermediaries involved in dispute resolution. Gibbons in his report entitled Better Dispute Resolution (2007 pg.5) states[3], ‘In conducting the Review I was struck by the overwhelming consensus that the intentions of the 2004 Regulations were sound and that there had been a genuine attempt to keep them simple, and yet †¦as formal legislation they have failed to produce the desired policy outcome. This is perhaps a classic case of good policy, but inappropriately inflexible and prescriptive regulation.’ It became apparent that the regulations did not state clearly what a written grievance was or what it was to contain. With no specific guidance on this, parties called for procedural hearings at the ET to establish whether the claimant actually put their grievance in writing and whether all of the claims that were found in their Claim Form had previously been evidenced in the grievance letter. The respondents were claiming that this was not the case and therefore there was no case to answer. Therefore although the procedures were clear as to the steps to follow in bringing a dispute insufficient guidance was given about each stage leaving Tribunals with an increase in the number and length of proceedings. Gibbons explains the difficulty with identifying what constitutes a grievance letter (2007 pg.8), ‘†¦comments in resignation letters and in 360-degree feedback forms have been held to meet the requirements, so some employers feel it is necessary to check closely and investigate any written communication that might be construed as a grievance’ Although the intention of the regulations was for early informal resolution of disputes, the drafting of the Step 1 letter and consequent meetings in practice escalate many issues taking up management time and proving stressful for employees. Also the three step process as outlined above was not always adequate in all circumstances. Small businesses in particular have complained about the formal, ‘one size fits all’ approach of the regulations. Gibbons explains (2007 pg. 8), ‘†¦the appeal stage is an unnecessary burden, especially for small businesses. The appeal will often be to the same person who made the original decision. It can also be difficult in cases where employees have left the workplace. One business felt it necessary to follow the three-step procedures for each of their Christmas temporary staff before they left – a process which added no value.’ The main thrust of the opposition to the current regime is that it has created an unhealthy overlap between the resolution of disputes and the litigation procedure which should as far as possible be kept separate. For example the regulations stipulate that before a claim is lodged at the Employment Tribunal (ET) a grievance letter must be sent to the employer within three months of the alleged dismissal or conduct. Any breach of the procedure would allow the Tribunal to grant up to 50% increase if the fault was that of the employer or 50% reduction in the award depending on whether the fault was that of the employee. Of course apart from the fact that it is not always easy to ascertain whose fault led to a breach of procedure such stipulations and penalties mean that litigation has to be considered at an early stage when resolution of the dispute should be paramount. Gibbon states (2007 pg.25), ‘Both large and small businesses have reported that the number of formal disputes has risen. The Review has heard that 30 to 40% increases have been typical in the retail sector.’ Further complications arise where there are multiple claims for example in an equal pay case and the three step process has to be repeated many times creating an unnecessary administrative burden. The same burden is also felt where and employer seeks to follow the disciplinary steps and at the same time the employee also seeks to pursue a grievance. ‘It is not always clear how the two strands of the Regulations should operate in such circumstances, and employers can feel compelled to hold excessive numbers of meetings and write excessive numbers of formal letters to be sure of fulfilling the procedural requirements’[4] The proposed reforms As a result of the Gibbons Review, the Government held a consultation and the responses received formed the basis of the present reform proposals published in the Employment Bill 2007 which has received royal assent and is now the Employment Act 2008. The first major reform is for the Regulations to be repealed in their entirety in April 2009 and replaced with a revised ACAS Code of Practice (the Code) which has been agreed in draft form. There will also be non statutory guidance also provided by ACAS. ACAS stands for the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service and currently offers employees an arbitration service as an alternative to resorting to proceedings. Also it has always provided a Code for resolving disputes but it is only now being adapted and incorporated into statute. In actual fact the revised ACAS code provides for the same three step procedure but does not incorporate the same penalties and conditions as the Regulations. There have also been some additional requirements which seem to lean towards ensuring that employees behave ‘reasonably’. The draft Code is designed to provide basic practical guidance for disciplinary and grievance procedures but is limited as it will not apply to dismissals as a result of redundancy[5] or expiration of a fixed term contract.The Code describes the remit it covers[6], ‘Disciplinary situations include misconduct and/or poor performanceGrievances are concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their Employers’ It suggests in the Foreword of the Code[7] that employers and employees should try to resolve disputes between them. However if they cannot, they should seek the help of an independent third party inside or outside the organisation. The Code provides that where the Employment Tribunal must ascertain compliance with the Code it will do this on a case by case basis taking into account the size and resources of the employer. Therefore unlike the Regulations there is no expectation that all business will comply with every provision in the Code providing greater flexibility for employers. In relation to disciplinary procedures the first step is to establish the facts of each case by collating evidence and holding an investigatory meeting if necessary. The Code then states[8], ‘If it is decided that there is a disciplinary case to answer, the employee should be notified of this in writing. This notification should contain sufficient information about the alleged misconduct or poor performance and its possible consequences to enable the employee to prepare to answer the case at a disciplinary meeting’ New provisions provide for evidence collated including witness statements to be provided by the employer with the letter requesting a disciplinary meeting. Also an employee may call their own witnesses. The statutory right to be accompanied to this meeting still stands however the Code’s emphasis on ‘reasonableness’ is evidenced where it states[9], ‘However, it would not normally be reasonable for workers to insist on being accompanied by a companion whose presence would not prejudice the hearing nor would it be reasonable for a worker to ask to be accompanied by a companion from a remote geographical location if someone suitable and willing was available on site.’ The dispute Regulations had provided that on appeal the employer only had to make one attempt to reconvene the meeting however under the Code the employer has to show that the employee has persistently been unable or unwilling to attend before a decision can be made in their absence.[10] If the employee decides to appeal, grounds of appeal in writing must be submitted to the employer.[11] This requirement was not found in the Regulations and the idea behind it is to ensure that further time is not spent discussing issues that have already been covered in the first meeting. In a case of a grievance for example instead of the emphasis on a Step 1 grievance letter, the revised Code states[12], ‘If it is not possible to resolve a grievance informally employees should raise the matter formally and without unreasonable delay’ The employee should inform the employer of the grievance preferably in writing and the letter should be addressed to the line manager. Unlike the Regulations, a claim would not be barred in absence of a grievance letter although a failure to send this letter would be a breach of the Code and may lead to a reduction in the award. The Code states that a meeting must be heard pursuant to the letter and that the employee must have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union official. As with the disciplinary procedure, the requirement here is that the right to be accompanied is reasonable. During the meeting the employer can ask for an adjournment in order to carry out an investigation. There is also a right of appeal and subsequently the employee can decide to take the matter further and pursue the case in the Employment Tribunal. The new regime will not hold a dismissal to be automatically unfair if there has been a breach in procedure. Employment Tribunals will have to decide cases on what is fair and reasonable and will have discretionary powers to adjust awards of up to 25% if either employer or employee has not followed the ACAS code. In relation to this provision the government report Resolving Disputes in the Workplace Consultation (May 2008 pg.16) it states, ‘This will be a power rather than a duty in order to allow the employment tribunals discretion to apply it in the interests of justice and equity’ It is hoped that these reforms will give a higher level of flexibility in resolving work place disputes and various businesses can tailor the new regime to their specific needs. The Government has also agreed as part of the reform to invest  £37M into the ACAS helpline system in order to provide early mediation for workplace disputes that would otherwise result in tribunal claims. Resolving Disputes in the Workplace Consultation (May 2008 pg.16)[13] states, ‘The government considers the way forward should be a short non prescriptive Statutory Code setting out the principles of what and employer and employee must do supported by fuller statutory guidance’ The idea is that the new statutory code will provide guidance for employment tribunals and the non statutory guidance will be used by employers and employees. Where a grievance arises during a disciplinary process, the disciplinary may be suspended or both can be dealt with concurrently if related. The Code does not cover collective grievances which must be dealt with under the agreed collective grievances procedures agreed with trade unions. The likely effect of these reforms on employers and employees It is unlikely that the Code will have a major change on the dispute resolution process in the work place. The code incorporates the same three steps that were found in the Regulations. There is still a penalty of an increase or decrease in the award up to 25% depending on whether the employer or employee is at fault. Because the employee is likely to suffer a reduction in compensation of up to 25 % the pressure to ensure a grievance letter is sent still remains. Although unlike the Regulations, the claim is not barred due to failure to lodge a grievance, the number of grievances brought by employees is not likely to be reduced for so long as there remains a penalty, albeit the employee at the grievance stage may not have considered litigation. So arguably there may not necessarily be reduction of time spent on hearing and processing grievances in the workplace. Also with the repeal of the Regulations there is no automatically unfair dismissal because of non compliance. Many have argued that this places fewer restrictions on unscrupulous employers therefore increasing the likelihood of litigation. There would need to be clear communication by the government and business to their employees as to how the new regime will work and arrangements need to be put in place for the transition between the old and new procedures. As far as practical points flowing from the provisions of the ACAS Code, the following would ensure that employers are taking the right steps to ensure compliance although there still remains areas of uncertainty that will only be made clear once the Code is put into practice. Mediation training should be provided for Human Resources staff to act as internal mediators and consider compiling a list of good mediators outside the organisation. In the Introduction of the Code, it states that employees should be involved where appropriate in the development of rules and procedures so to this end it would be prudent if employers hold consultation meetings with employees and their Trade Union Representatives during the transition period between the Regulations and the Code. Guidelines should be provided as to how to provide a ‘reasonable opportunity’ to call witnesses (Clause 12) and establish in policy that that the right to be accompanied is subject to considerations as to reasonableness (Clause 15). These issues are clearly subjective and would vary on a case by case basis and are therefore likely to prove controversial or even problematic Guidelines should be drafted as to when and under what circumstances the employee has shown inability or unwillingness to attend a disciplinary meeting without good cause. Different people should oversee the investigatory and later the disciplinary process. In order to facilitate early resolution of disputes as well as implementing the Code the government also intends for ACAS to provide a helpline where simple disputes can be dealt with over the phone or by internet. This extends the existing right to mitigation that parties must be notified of in any dispute. However the issue is ensuring that ACS has the necessary funds and staff to successfully fulfil this role. Staff must be well trained in providing employment advice and negotiating settlement between parties. Another proposal is that the Employment Tribunal Application process should happen via the helpline giving claimants access to advice on their claim and alternatives to litigation. Not all involved in the dispute resolution process favour these reforms. In the government report Resolving Disputes in the Workplace Consultation[14] it states ‘Opponents of repeal included a number of Trade Unions, representatives of vulnerable workers and individuals. Many cited the benefits of having a standard required procedure in all workplaces which operated to the benefit of workers in all types of organisations and encouraged good practice.’ From the point of view of an employee, the fear is that the new regime and its emphasis on ‘reasonableness’ leaves too much to the discretion of the employer. This coupled with the removal of the automatically unfair provision has left the issue of unfairness to the Employment Tribunal who will access the situation based on many factors other than breaches in the code including the size and resources of the employer. There is therefore an element of uncertainty in the new provisions certainly for the employee but for the employer as well. In the Legal Action Group’s response to the government consultation (June 2007) it states,[15] ‘Repeal of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 (the ‘regulations’), will not improve the poor position of the many, low paid, non-unionised, workers in the labour market. The government should act to protect the most vulnerable by encouraging trade union organisation and by other legislative measures.’ The concern of the Group is that the government’s emphasis on mediation could lead to vulnerable employees losing their right to a formal hearing to resolve disputes. In order for alternatives to litigation to be properly considered good quality advice needs to be available to all however only a third of the working population are trade union members. A lack of access to legal aid will mean that non members will not have proper recourse to legal advice. It seems unlikely that the ACAS helpline proposal will cater for all workplace disputes. The Code has also been seen as unfair towards employees as it does not take into account that in reality there is rarely a balance of power between employer and employee. Employers have more resources and employees tend to already feel intimidated when bringing a grievance. A simple dispute could still have as its underlying cause a long term abusive policy against workers which of course cannot be resolved through a telephone conversation with an ACAS mediator. Indeed there are many categories of workers including the elderly and disabled or those with language difficulties who would need face to face advice. The LAG report states,[16] ‘We have to question whether the DTI is taking an even-handed approach to the resolution of work-related disputes or whether it has bowed to pressure from the powerful employers lobby.’ The overall view therefore of those acting for employees is that although the Regulations were unnecessarily complex they could have been simplified without being repealed as they provided minimum protection for all workers, whether or not they were trade union members. The principal reason for issuing the Regulations was because it was found that many employers did not have any procedures in place for resolving dispute and a repeal of the regulations could mean a return to this situation. There are also potential problems with the right of employees to bring claims being infringed where it is proposed that the Tribunal application system should also be processed through the ACAS helpline. LAG notes[17], ‘It would be inappropriate for a service point that had an aim of providing advice and guidance to also act in a ‘gatekeeping’ role for potential ET claims. Combined with the suggestion that the new advice service should be able to over-ride or contradict the advice given by a representative11, this would damage any integrity generated for such a service.’ Conclusion Clearly the repeal of the Dispute Resolution Regulations 2004 and the implementation of the ACAS Code due to take effect in April 2009 is not without its difficulties. The Government’s aim is to reduce the amount of claims being taken to the Tribunal although it recognises that dispute resolution is in itself only one strand. The other is revising the law in relation to unfair dismissal and making the Tribunal processes itself more efficient. The Code is similar to the Regulations in that it mirrors a three step process. However the onus is often put on the employer to determine what is reasonable which has the effect of the Tribunal later claiming breach of the regulations or the employee claiming that their rights have been infringed. The employer therefore has a burden to act reasonably and the vagueness of this term although creates more flexibility to employers will produce greater uncertainty. Only time will tell whether the Code will in fact encourage a ‘conflict resolution culture’ and reduce the administrative burden on employers as its drafters intended. BIBLIOGRAPHY ACAS: Draft for Consultation: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance (Nov 2008) http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=961p=0 BERR -Resolving Disputes in the Workplace Consultation Government Response (May 2008) DTI-Better Dispute Resolution: A Review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain- Michael Gibbons (March 2007)-http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file38516.pdf DTI-Success at work resolving disputes in the workplace: A consultation- (March 2007) DTI-Success at work resolving disputes in the workplace: A consultation- Response of the Legal Action Group (2007) Is it the end of the road for Statutory Minimum Dispute resolution Procedures Nick Hine May 2008)http://www.tcii.co.uk/images/upload/guest_article_pdfs/11ganick_hine2ddpdf_2173.pdf United Kingdom: New Acas Code Of Practice on Disciplinary And Grievances Article by Val Dougan Dundas and Wilson Solicitors 28 November 2008 www.personneltoday.com 1 [1] DTI-Better Dispute Resolution: A Review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain- Michael Gibbons (March 2007)-http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file38516.pdf [2] DTI-Success at work resolving disputes in the workplace: A consultation- March 2007 [3] DTI-Better Dispute Resolution: A Review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain- Michael Gibbons )March 2007)http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file38516.pdf [4] Gibbons Review pg. 27 [5] Employers must consult the ACAS book on redundancy handling [6] ACAS: Draft for Consultation: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=961p=0 [7] The Foreword of the Code is not legally binding but constitutes best practice [8] Clause 9, ACAS: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance 2008 [9]Clause 15, ACAS: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance 2008 [10] Clause 24 ACAS: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance 2008 [11] Clause 25 ACAS: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance 2008 [12] Clause 32 ACAS: Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance 2008 [13] BERR -Resolving Disputes in the Workplace Consultation Government Response (May 2008) [14] BERR Resolving Disputes in the Workplace Consultation Government Response May 2008 [15] DTI-Success at work resolving disputes in the workplace: A consultation- Response of the Legal Action Group [16] LAG Report Pg.2 [17] LAG Report pg.5

New Classics of the Horror Film Genre Essay -- Pleasures of Horror Fil

Dracula. Frankenstein. Godzilla. These monsters no longer strike fear into the hearts of viewers as they once did. Formerly the villains of the classic "monster movie," these relics, who now represent all that is archaic in horror film history. The monster movie of the past makes way for the thriller or slasher movie of the present, while the monster villain gives its role to the deranged, psychotic serial killer. Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm Street, Copycat and Seven have become the new classics in the genre of the horror film. With films like The People Under the Stairs, Nightmare on Elm Street, and New Nightmare, Wes Craven has proven himself to be a master of the creation of modern horror films. With recent masterpiece Scream, Craven shows his audience that he is not restricted by the typical conventions of the horror film. In most of these films, the background is set up before the killer does any actual slashing. However in Scream, Drew Barrymore's character is tormented by the killer from the film's very beginning and both she and her boyfriend are dead less than ten minutes after the opening credits. Craven manages to make Scream a film of less "fluff" and more substance than most thrillers. Recurring themes in the film, such as the lack of teens' seriousness, the callous nature of today's younger generation, the crossover and confusion between reality and movies, and the negative representation of television media not only add to the film's entertainment value, but also often portray a fairly accurate picture of twentieth century America. Despite all the film's blood and gore, Craven creates a comedic tone so successfully that at times the audience wonders whether Scream might be a comedy after all. Even though the safety of their small town has been shattered by a deranged serial killer, the characters do not seem to take the situation very seriously. The main characters are eating lunch at school the day after the first murders and, as might be expected, the killings make up the topic of their conversation. At one point, the character Randy turns to Tatem, and in a convincing imitation of Billy Crystal, he asks her, "Did they really find her liver in the mailbox? Because I heard they found her liver in the mailbox." Tatem and Sidney, the other female present and the movie's main character, cringe at this tasteless remark. Tatem'... ...ssuring that we remain productive m mbers of society (King 500). So, perhaps if you are in need of this type of therapy, or in search of an offbeat study in American popular culture, all that you need is a good horror film. Rent Scream or go to a movie theater to see the sequel. You will probably be surprised by what you see, and you might even be impressed. Works Cited Craven, Wes. Interview. Fresh Air. National Public Radio. KQED, San Francisco. 16 February 1998. King, Stephen. Ã £Why We Crave Horror Movies.? Common Culture. Petracca, Michael and Madeleine Sorapure, eds. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1995. Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. Recreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. Works Consulted Grant, Barry Keith, editor. Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film. London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1984. Newman, Kim. Nightmare Movies. New York: Harmony Books, 1988. Riptov, S.A. Kidnapped Corpus Whasamat Univ. Press, 1984 Scream. Dir. Wes Craven. With David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. Dimension Films, 1997.

Gays in the Military :: Gay Military Government Laws Essays Homosexual

Very often political institutions reflect the will of society and set the precedent for norms that will be expected of its members. The United States Military is still enforcing archaic policies which threaten to harm the principles our nation was founded upon. The principles of freedom and equality are those that every American holds closest to their heart, that is unless you are in the military and are gay. The issue of gays in the military has developed into a case of whether our country should discriminate against a group merely because of involuntary sexual orientation. Two persistent principles are evident within this topic: that homosexuals are ever present throughout all branches of the military and a persistent hostility against this group is in American society and the military. In order to effectively examine this topic the following concepts will be discussed: an analysis of the current Department Of Defense policy concerning gays, solutions to reduce homophobia in the military, a policy model concerning homosexuals in the military ( Lepicer 1-14 ). Prior to the arrival of the Clinton Administration with its agenda to radically revise military policy regarding the acceptance and treatment of homosexuals, Department of Defense policy was well established and clear. Legal questions began to be raised in civilian courts challenging the military exclusion and discharge policies in the 1960's and 1970's. The services were forced to explain and clearly justify specific limits and procedures used in relation to service members claiming to be homosexual or convicted of such behavior. During the Carter Administration a clear policy was signed into law. It reads: Homosexuality is incompatible with military service. The presence in the military environment of persons who engage in homosexual conduct or who, by their statements, demonstrate a propensity to engage in such conduct, seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military mission. The presence of such members adversely affects the ability of the Military Services to maintain discipline, good order, and morale: to foster mutual trust and confidence among service members; to ensure the integrity of the system of rank and command; to facilitate assignment and worldwide deployment of service members who frequently must live and work under close conditions affording minimal privacy; to recruit and retain members of the Military Services: to maintain the public acceptability of military service; and to prevent breaches of security ( Lepicer ). Everyone agrees that gays were already in the military, but gays want to serve their country out of the closet. This concept pitted the gay community against the traditionalists who want to keep them out. The result is a compromising "Don't ask / Don't Tell" policy which prevents recruiters from

Waiting for Godot

â€Å"Waiting For Godot† is a play by Samuel Beckett in which the two main characters Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot. Both men talk like they know who he is but also agree that if they were to see Godot they wouldn't recognize him. The play isn't one that I like but I do like the message that I perceived. In my opinion the play is about finding what makes you, you; finding what you live for and finding God. â€Å"Waiting For Godot† takes place in a desolate area where the two men, Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree. Vladimir, one of the main characters also goes by the nickname Didi given to him by Estragon. Didi seems to be more mature than his friend. Estragon or Gogo, has a poor memory and looks to Didi for help and protection. Pozzo is a blind man who passes by the two men but later doesn't recall meeting them. Pozzo has a slave named Lucky, although he's a slave he's entertaining and smart. Later in the play he becomes ignorant. There is also a boy who comes each night to inform Didi and Gogo that Godot will not be coming but every night insists he hasn't come the night before. Lastly, Godot who never appears in the play although he's being waited for. Through out the play Vladimir and Estragon just wait by a tree for Godot, a few people pass through and although Godot fails to appear the men still wait in fear that they might miss him. This play is also a product of the Absurdist movement. The belief of the theater of the absurd is that without God human existence is meaningless. In these plays it's mostly irrational and illogical communication. Man acts like a puppet, they have no meaning and are controlled by an invisible outside force. Godot is the outside force controlling what Vladimir and Estragon do because they sit and wait for him. There is no plot change and not much action in the play, it's mostly conversation about random thoughts or actions. In my opinion I believe the play is boring, but the message portrayed is interesting. The reason the play is dull is because each character has no meaning. The whole play is basically conversation and nothing happens. Then again a lot of good messages come out of a whole lot of nothing. Didi and Gogo are simply two men and because they do not have Godot in their lives they are merely just two men. They have no meaning and the message in the play is that you have to find who you are, what you live for, and mostly that without God life has no meaning. In the play â€Å"Waiting For Godot†, Godot portrays God. Although you can not see God, it's believed that he's an invisible force or soul that is always there. In the theater of the absurd it says without God life is meaningless. In this play Godot or God never shows up, therefore a sign that God isn't there and their lives were pointless and were being controlled by this false belief. If Godot would have been there Didi and Gogo's waiting would have been for a reason. Samuel Beckett's play â€Å"Waiting For Godot† is a product of the Absurdist movement. The two main characters are waiting the whole time for Godot also thought of as God. Vladimir and Estagon have no meaning in their lives because Godot never shows up. None of the characters know where they belong in life or who they really are because each character changes from on extreme to the other. Didi and Gogo are being controlled by the unknown which only proves how important believing in something is, although it can't be seen. The main point and meaning in this play is that without God, mankind is nothing. Waiting for Godot â€Å"Waiting For Godot† is a play by Samuel Beckett in which the two main characters Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot. Both men talk like they know who he is but also agree that if they were to see Godot they wouldn't recognize him. The play isn't one that I like but I do like the message that I perceived. In my opinion the play is about finding what makes you, you; finding what you live for and finding God. â€Å"Waiting For Godot† takes place in a desolate area where the two men, Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree. Vladimir, one of the main characters also goes by the nickname Didi given to him by Estragon. Didi seems to be more mature than his friend. Estragon or Gogo, has a poor memory and looks to Didi for help and protection. Pozzo is a blind man who passes by the two men but later doesn't recall meeting them. Pozzo has a slave named Lucky, although he's a slave he's entertaining and smart. Later in the play he becomes ignorant. There is also a boy who comes each night to inform Didi and Gogo that Godot will not be coming but every night insists he hasn't come the night before. Lastly, Godot who never appears in the play although he's being waited for. Through out the play Vladimir and Estragon just wait by a tree for Godot, a few people pass through and although Godot fails to appear the men still wait in fear that they might miss him. This play is also a product of the Absurdist movement. The belief of the theater of the absurd is that without God human existence is meaningless. In these plays it's mostly irrational and illogical communication. Man acts like a puppet, they have no meaning and are controlled by an invisible outside force. Godot is the outside force controlling what Vladimir and Estragon do because they sit and wait for him. There is no plot change and not much action in the play, it's mostly conversation about random thoughts or actions. In my opinion I believe the play is boring, but the message portrayed is interesting. The reason the play is dull is because each character has no meaning. The whole play is basically conversation and nothing happens. Then again a lot of good messages come out of a whole lot of nothing. Didi and Gogo are simply two men and because they do not have Godot in their lives they are merely just two men. They have no meaning and the message in the play is that you have to find who you are, what you live for, and mostly that without God life has no meaning. In the play â€Å"Waiting For Godot†, Godot portrays God. Although you can not see God, it's believed that he's an invisible force or soul that is always there. In the theater of the absurd it says without God life is meaningless. In this play Godot or God never shows up, therefore a sign that God isn't there and their lives were pointless and were being controlled by this false belief. If Godot would have been there Didi and Gogo's waiting would have been for a reason. Samuel Beckett's play â€Å"Waiting For Godot† is a product of the Absurdist movement. The two main characters are waiting the whole time for Godot also thought of as God. Vladimir and Estagon have no meaning in their lives because Godot never shows up. None of the characters know where they belong in life or who they really are because each character changes from on extreme to the other. Didi and Gogo are being controlled by the unknown which only proves how important believing in something is, although it can't be seen. The main point and meaning in this play is that without God, mankind is nothing.

Positive Psychology Paper Essay

Positive Psychology   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Positive psychology is a new branch of psychology founded by Dr Martin Seligman, who is the Director of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center.   This branch is defined as â€Å"the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive† (Seligman, 2007).   In addition, positive psychology is â€Å"founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play† (Seligman, 2007). As a critique, developing such field may be beneficial to human and in turn, to society.   Being aware of what positive psychology entails and applying these in life will promote healthy relationships as this field aims to promote â€Å"positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions† (Seligman, 2007).   Then again, one possible setback for the development of this new branch of psychology is seeing all the others as negative.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Generally, researchers value positive psychology as an essential part in the aim of studying the entire spectrum of human experience.   Researchers of this field do acknowledge the existence of the negative aspects of life such as hardships and dysfunctions, however, aim to study the other side of the coin.   This includes joys, good feelings and functional institutions. Studies say that humans, by nature, easily recall the negative events than the good ones.   Basing from this, a positive perspective and a healthy state of mind should be set.   One effective way of fighting the negative is to list every good thing that occurred during the day and contemplating on them.   This should be done despite having a bad day.   To be happy, one must develop the initiative to dwell on the good and appreciate one’s blessings. One should exert conscious efforts to dispel the ugly and replace them with positive and pleasant thoughts. Reference Seligman, M. â€Å"Authentic happiness†University of Pennsylvania Website. Retrieved     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   February 27, 2008, from http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx